Moses



(No Model.)

M. C. JOHNSON.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

Patented Mar.13,1883.

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Nrrnn ATENT FFICE.

MOSES C. JOHNSON, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND TVILLAM N. WTOODRUFF, OF SAME PLACE.

VHICLE=WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,850, dated March 13, 1883.

Application tiled August 17, 1882. (No model.)

To all u-hom lit may concern:

Be it known that l, MOSES C. JoHNSoN, of Hartford, in the county ot' Hartford and Slate ot Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a l'nll, clear,

and exact description thereof, whereby a person skilled in the art can make and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanyro ing drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Like letters in theiigures indicate the same parts.

Myimprovementrelates to carriageand other I wheels to be used upon wheeled vehicles; and the object ot' my invention is to provide a wheel which can be tightened when the spokes become loose without resetting the tire, and also to provide a better method of fastening the tire upon the fellies, so vthat it cannot be laterally displaced.

1n the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l shows a part ot' my improved wheel having part of the hub removed, so as to show the interior construction, and also two ot' the spokes broken away, so as to show the sockets in the hub in which they rest. Fig. 2 is an exterior view of the hub with the spokes removed. Fig. 3 is a section through the middle of the hub with the spokes removed. Fig. it is an inside view ofthe wedge for tightening the fellies ofthe wheel. Fig.5 is acrosssection through the felly and tire.

A is the rim of the wheel, which may be made of one or more pieces or fellics in the customary manner. The spokes are inserted into this rim in the usual manner.

Bis the tire. This is rolled with a flange, B', upon its interior side, which tits into a corresponding groove in the felly. This holds the tire tirmly from moving sidewise when the i'elly is pressed up against it, as will be described.

C is a wedge-shaped block, furnished with the tenons C', which enters between the inclined ends of the tellies to press them apart. The

tenons C' enter into corresponding grooves in the ends of the fellies.

D is a bolt which passes through the block C and the tire B, and is provided with a nut upon the inner end, by which it is drawn inward, so as to press the block outward, and thus separate the ends of the fellies.

E E are the spokes. They are iliade in the customary manner, except that the inner ends are uniform in section where they pass into the hub, and are inclined at their ends.

F is the axle. It has a spindle passing through the wheel-box G in the usual manner.

Upon this spindle the box G and the other 6o parts ot' the hub attached to it turn.

His a hollow sleeve, movable longitudinally upon the box G, but prevented from rotating by the key J, which tits in a groove in the inner surface ot' the sleeve H. The forward end 65 ot H is enlarged into a disk, in which inclined slots K are formed to act as wedges against the inner ends ofthe spokes E. The rear end of thc sleeve H is of smaller diameter, and is provided with an exterior screw-thread, as 7o shown in the drawings.

L is a rotating sleeve turning upon the box G, and held from moving longitudinally by the tlange G' upon the box G. A flange, L', upon L keeps the sleeve from movinginward, and a collar, M, screwed into its rear end, holds it from moving outward. This sleeve is provided with a screw-thread upon its inner snrface, which engages with the thread upon H, so that when the sleeve L is turned it moves 8a the part H longitudinally upon the box G. L is provided with capstan-holes or any other common device for turning it with a wrench or Spanner.

N is one ot' the circular plates or disks for 85 holding the spokes. It vlits over the sleeve L, as shown in the drawings, and is provided with a series of half-sockets, N', to inclose the spokes.

O is the other circular plate or disk for hold- 9o ing the spokes. It slides on the outer end of the box G, and is furnished with a series ot' half-sockets, O', to inclose the spokes.

P is a nut turning upon a thread on the outer end ot' the box G, and pressing against thc 95 disk O, so as to hold the ends of the spokes firmly between the disks N and O, as they rest in the recesses N' O. Vhen the spokes are placed in the recesses in the plates N and 0, and the two are screwed together to emmo brace the spokes, itis intended that the plates shall not come quite together, but that a small the sleeve L is turned, so as to force the spokes space shall be left between them to allow for any shrinking ofthe wood, so that the plates can be tightened when desired. As a wheel is used, and thev parts become dry and worn, the spokes commonly become loose, and. the ordinary way of tightening them is to make the tire smaller, thus contracting the whole wheel. This but imperfectly answers the purpose, as the spokes still remain' loose in the hub. In my improved wheel the whole is tightened without cutting or shortening the tire, and thereby admitting of my improved form of tire being used, as the flange would be difficult to form in reweldin'g.

The operation of my improvement is as follows: When it is desired to tighten the wheel outward by drawingr the inclined channels in the sleeve H inward. This presses the spokes all outward against the fellies. The inner ends of the spokes are then iirmly gripped and held by turning the nut P, which presses the plates N and 0 together. The t'ellies are then made ofthe proper length and tightness by turning the nuts of the bolts D, which drives in the wedge-blocks C, which completes the tightening and renders the whole wheel as firm as when rst made.

I am aware that it is not broadly new to tighten spokes in the tire of a wheel by drawing an inclined or conical sleeve against their inner ends to force them outward; also, thatit is notbroadly new to use a nut for this pur-- pose, and also for. the purpose of clamping together two disks, which, when thus clamped, make up a complete set ot' spoke-sockets. I do not broadly claim the above; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patents, is

1. A sliding screw-threaded sleeve provided with an inclined portion which has longitudinal flanges that are adapted to receive between them the inner ends of the spokes, in combination with a nut adapted to engage with said sleeve and draw it endwise, so as to force said spokes outward, thereby tightening them against the tire, substantially as set forth.

2. A fixed disk and a movable disk, which together make up a set of spoke-sockets, in combination withan axlebox, ascrew-threaded sleeve splined on said axle-box, a nut independent of said movable disk, which operates to force said movable disk toward said xed disk, and a nut which operates to draw said sleeve endwise, in order that the inclined part of said sleevemay force the spokes outward, thereby tightening them against the tire, substantially as set forth.

MOSES (l. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

THEO. G. ELLIS, W. N. WOODRUFF. 

